It looks like the editors over at ZDNet have decided to allow one of their own to leave the realm of tech-blogging and move into the political game. I assume this was green-lit in order to take advantage of the virtually untapped political interests of their otherwise agnostic tech readers. The writer in question is David Gewirtz, who writes the ZDNet Government blog which typically focuses on issues of cyber-security and whose “disclosure” attached to today’s post describes himself as follows,

At various times during his adult life, David has voted for both Democrats and Republicans, and has been disappointed by both. He is deeply disturbed by how partisanship has come before patriotism in America, which gives him the freedom to pick on both sides.

David is a frequent guest on TV and radio stations across America and can usually be heard or seen on-the-air at least once a week. He writes weekly commentary and analysis for CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and has been interviewed by Fox News, CNN, various ABC and NBC affiliates, and Canada’s Global TV. He has been a featured guest on National Public Radio and has also been featured on Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Liberty where his commentaries on technology, industry, and emerging nations have been broadcast into 46 countries (all in their own unique translations).

David is the executive director of U.S. Strategic Perspective Institute, a nonprofit research and policy organization. He is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism & Security Professionals, a columnist for The Journal of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security and a special contributor to Frontline Security Magazine. He is a member of the FBI’s InfraGard program, the security partnership between the FBI and industry. David is also a member of the U.S. Naval Institute and the National Defense Industrial Association, the leading defense industry association promoting national security.

Gewirtz penned a piece today entitled Hillary Clinton’s Strategic Mistake (and Barak Obama’s Brilliant Move). Unfortunately, that caveat in parenthesis is the only positive comment made about Obama in the post. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that while the title would lead you to believe this is post about Hillary Clinton, it is rather a series of weak straw-man arguments intended to make the point that Barack Obama is a failed President.

Mr. Gewirtz assumes a few of things that are questionable in order to prop up his conclusions.

First, he claims that the Affordable Care Law (often called Obamacare) is “probably worse” than the system that it was intended to fix. This is a stretch at best if not completely baseless in that only a fraction of the law has yet to be enacted. How can one claim it is a failure if it has not yet been given it a chance to fail?

The second point I take odds with is the idea that had Hillary Clinton stayed out of the Obama Administration that she could have somehow made a play for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2012. It is extremely unlikely that a popular politician and former First Lady such as herself would risk her reputation by challenging an incumbent president. This is usually reserved for fringe candidates who have nothing to lose and third party challengers.

But it is this point which gives Gewirtz away as fraud, he states “it’s very difficult to tangibly determine whether we’d have been better off with Mr. McCain than Mr. Obama these last few years…”

Wha?

I am certain that there are absolutely no people on the left and very few Independents that would agree with this statement. Remember, at the time of the 2008 financial collapse John McCain claimed our economy was just fine and there was nothing to deal with. In addition, you can’t rule out the fact that Sarah Palin, a person who has only gotten worse with time, would have been occupying the Vice Presidential seat, one McCain missed heartbeat away from the most powerful position on the planet.

This is a very interesting post David but I think you (and ZDNet) should stick to tech.